When Hollywood was Right- How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics- by Donald T. Critchlow was published by Cambridge University Press and released in October 2013.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
From the 1930's through the mid to late 1960's, Hollywood was far from the liberal majority we are accustomed to today. For me, I have not in my lifetime known Hollywood to be anything but left leaning. So when I saw this title on Netgalley I was intrigued.
Major Hollywood players like Louis B. Mayer, Cecil B. DeMille, Walt Disney and actors like John Wayne, and Robert Taylor and George Murphy worked to rebuild the Republican Party in California.
As to the climate in California, politically speaking, "one of the most astute observers of California politics, journalist Carey McWilliams, noted, 'California is a state that lacks gyroscope, a state that swings and sways, spins and turns in accordance with it's own peculiar dynamics.'"
Concerns begin to rise that Hollywood writers, actors and others were members of the communist party and were placing communist propaganda in movies.
"Many who joined the communist party were idealist who believed that capitalism had failed, leaving in it's wake fascism, imperialism, militarism, and profound racial, ethnic, and labor injustices. Membership in the party was usually a short lived experience. However, there were hardliners who believed that communist in Hollywood were part of an international conspiracy, directed by the Soviet Union, to take over Hollywood."
Normally, the studios turned a blind eye to political affiliation, unless it might cost them money, and "Hollywood censors were too busy looking on top of beds for sex and not under beds for Reds.
Unless an actor or writer's politics adversely affected the studio's image with the public, executives ignored political ideology."
As fear of communism increased the MPA was formed, Motion Picture Alliance, whose sole purpose was to fight communism in the industry. Most members were more concerned with their careers and personal lives than politics, however.
Later, two events took place that had a huge impact on the industry and led to the HUAC hearings. A strike in 1945 and another one in 1946, intensified anti-communist sentiments. Without those strikes the Hollywood Red Scare might never have occurred.
After what was an embarrassment in organizing the HUAC hearings, the accused of course were blacklisted leaving a black mark in the industry and in America.
Many people remember that, but not much else. The Republicans were only getting started at that time. Ronald Regan had many supporters and later, Nixon was also fond of rubbing elbows with celebrities and bragging about it later.
As the fifties gave way to the sixties, however, a shift began to take place, despite Ronald Regan winning the governorship of California in 1966, The John Birch Society and other hard core anti communist organizations begin to cave from within and the war in Vietnam had many stars who had right leanings to re-thing their public statements.
More stars with more money and more power were raising major funds fro the democratic party.
While republicans have had luck in California in more recent times, they haven't had much impact on the Hollywood players. In fact, times seems reversed in that many conservative actors claim to have fewer job opportunities because of their political leanings. Others just don't share their politics publicly. I for one like it better when they keep it to themselves. I have mixed feelings about entertainers publicly trying to help politicians raise money. I'm not entirely sure these people even know what they are talking about most of the time.
Overall this was an interesting period of time in California history and in the inner workings of Hollywood politics at that time.
The book was well researched. The author did a fine job of staying neutral and reporting just the facts. He took copious notes and did a great deal of reading and gave us all the sources of his information. Many, many names were dropped in this book. Some I knew, some I didn't. I was surprised by some of the actors that joined the republican party and not surprised by others.
I recommend this book to history lovers, those who enjoy politics, and others that just like to read about Hollywood. This would also be a tool for a classroom discussion in high school or college.
Although history can be some rather dry reading, this book was quite interesting throughout and even if you aren't a huge history buff, I think this book would appeal to the masses.
The only complaint I had was that at times the author got just a bit carried away with long list of names. Some may have wanted a most extensive list of actors , but most of these people were unfamiliar to me and sticking with the big names worked fine with me.
Overall this is a good solid A.
When Hollywood was Right- How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics- by Donald T. Critchlow was published by Cambridge University Press and released in October 2013.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
From the 1930's through the mid to late 1960's, Hollywood was far from the liberal majority we are accustomed to today. For me, I have not in my lifetime known Hollywood to be anything but left leaning. So when I saw this title on Netgalley I was intrigued.
Major Hollywood players like Louis B. Mayer, Cecil B. DeMille, Walt Disney and actors like John Wayne, and Robert Taylor and George Murphy worked to rebuild the Republican Party in California.
As to the climate in California, politically speaking, "one of the most astute observers of California politics, journalist Carey McWilliams, noted, 'California is a state that lacks gyroscope, a state that swings and sways, spins and turns in accordance with it's own peculiar dynamics.'"
Concerns begin to rise that Hollywood writers, actors and others were members of the communist party and were placing communist propaganda in movies.
"Many who joined the communist party were idealist who believed that capitalism had failed, leaving in it's wake fascism, imperialism, militarism, and profound racial, ethnic, and labor injustices. Membership in the party was usually a short lived experience. However, there were hardliners who believed that communist in Hollywood were part of an international conspiracy, directed by the Soviet Union, to take over Hollywood."
Normally, the studios turned a blind eye to political affiliation, unless it might cost them money, and "Hollywood censors were too busy looking on top of beds for sex and not under beds for Reds.
Unless an actor or writer's politics adversely affected the studio's image with the public, executives ignored political ideology."
As fear of communism increased the MPA was formed, Motion Picture Alliance, whose sole purpose was to fight communism in the industry. Most members were more concerned with their careers and personal lives than politics, however.
Later, two events took place that had a huge impact on the industry and led to the HUAC hearings. A strike in 1945 and another one in 1946, intensified anti-communist sentiments. Without those strikes the Hollywood Red Scare might never have occurred.
After what was an embarrassment in organizing the HUAC hearings, the accused of course were blacklisted leaving a black mark in the industry and in America.
Many people remember that, but not much else. The Republicans were only getting started at that time. Ronald Regan had many supporters and later, Nixon was also fond of rubbing elbows with celebrities and bragging about it later.
As the fifties gave way to the sixties, however, a shift began to take place, despite Ronald Regan winning the governorship of California in 1966, The John Birch Society and other hard core anti communist organizations begin to cave from within and the war in Vietnam had many stars who had right leanings to re-thing their public statements.
More stars with more money and more power were raising major funds fro the democratic party.
While republicans have had luck in California in more recent times, they haven't had much impact on the Hollywood players. In fact, times seems reversed in that many conservative actors claim to have fewer job opportunities because of their political leanings. Others just don't share their politics publicly. I for one like it better when they keep it to themselves. I have mixed feelings about entertainers publicly trying to help politicians raise money. I'm not entirely sure these people even know what they are talking about most of the time.
Overall this was an interesting period of time in California history and in the inner workings of Hollywood politics at that time.
The book was well researched. The author did a fine job of staying neutral and reporting just the facts. He took copious notes and did a great deal of reading and gave us all the sources of his information. Many, many names were dropped in this book. Some I knew, some I didn't. I was surprised by some of the actors that joined the republican party and not surprised by others.
I recommend this book to history lovers, those who enjoy politics, and others that just like to read about Hollywood. This would also be a tool for a classroom discussion in high school or college.
Although history can be some rather dry reading, this book was quite interesting throughout and even if you aren't a huge history buff, I think this book would appeal to the masses.
The only complaint I had was that at times the author got just a bit carried away with long list of names. Some may have wanted a most extensive list of actors , but most of these people were unfamiliar to me and sticking with the big names worked fine with me.
Overall this is a good solid A.
